Joëlle Diane Zellman is often wearing white gloves in her Akron studio and weaving fine art paper through an oversized printer.
On a recent visit, she was making prints of her digital watercolor paintings using giclée printing, a higher-quality kind of reproduction.
Kelly Krabill
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Ideastream Public Media
Many printers have four ink cartridges, but giclée printing utilizes 12 pigment-based inks that spray. The colors are more vibrant, and the reproductions look more like the originals.
She used to print her art that she creates as Joëlle Diane (her artist name) through a company in Florida, but the turnaround took a while.
“I was like, ‘Man, I really need to find a local printer who does this.’ And I started kind of looking around all over and couldn’t find anyone who was doing giclée printing in the area,” she said.
That’s when Joëlle Diane decided to step in to fill that void and offer giclée printing services not just for herself but for other Akron artists too.
“Not only could I do this and it’s useful for my artwork,” she said. “I can use this as an opportunity to connect with the creative community here in Akron.”
Kelly Krabill
/
Ideastream Public Media
Althea Jones
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Althea Jones
She quickly connected with artist and community builder Althea Jones, who was seeking a printmaker when she moved to the area from Cleveland.
“I was really having a hard time finding someone,” Jones said.
She finally found Joëlle Diane through a Google search.
“I was able to choose from cold press, hot press, canvas, lots of different papers, lots of different choices so that each piece of work is appropriate to the original,” Jones said.
It’s been nearly 10 years now since Joëlle Diane has been connecting with artists through her business, Monochrome Canvas.
Her shop has evolved over time from the dining room of her house to a studio near Downtown. She prints exhibition work for Akron artists and collaborates on projects around the city.
Connecting with her community started during her school years.
Her training and journey
Joëlle Diane grew up in Akron. She attended the Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts. In 2008, she graduated from Firestone High School, where she was part of the visual art program. She went on to study painting and sculpture at the Columbus College of Art and Design.
“I’ve had this really wonderful network of creatives and artists in the area just from baked in, kind of just from going to school at Miller South and then Firestone too,” she said.
Joëlle Diane
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Joëlle Diane
Throughout college and well into motherhood, Joëlle Diane used a lot of traditional materials such as acrylic paints and large canvases.
“It was hard to translate a lot of the work that I was doing because it involved a lot of materials, a lot of mess and my kids would get into it,” she said, noting she then transitioned to graphic design and digital work.
After college, Joëlle Diane worked a bunch of odd jobs before moving back to Akron. Then she landed a job at a commercial wallcovering company. When she was given the choice to move with the company to Louisville, Kentucky, she decided to stay in Akron and start a graphic design business.
She eventually lost her zest for logo design and brochure work.
Joëlle Diane began making art to express how she sees the world using Procreate on her iPad. Through her digital watercolors, she draws thin lines and leaves white space for the viewer to form an opinion. Her art focuses on femininity and personal health struggles.
Joëlle Diane
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Joëlle Diane
“I have a piece that I had done of an older woman dancing in a tutu,” she said. “I feel like I’m kind of that older woman at times. I feel like I’m in my 80s trying to get through my day and perform in this way, being a mom and running errands and lifting babies all the time.”
From printmaking to partnerships
Her community connection was just the start for her creative business. Joëlle Diane formed a partnership with Sabertooth Public Art while trying to launch her business.
“They worked as kind of an advocate for me for a little bit as I was trying to more establish myself as a creative, as an artist in the area,” Joëlle Diane said.
Out of that came the Akron T-shirt Club, which highlighted 10 Akron artists by publishing their work on limited-edition T-shirts. Members of the club received a T-shirt, a Risograph print and monthly emails.
Joëlle Diane
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Joëlle Diane
Joëlle Diane and Marissa McClellan from Sabertooth Public Art asked Akron artist Micah Kraus to join them.
Kraus, who was also one of the featured artists, helped other artists prepare their art. Then he screen-printed the designs onto the T-shirts.
His design included a dog and cat riding bicycles that reads “PEDAL together.
It’s centered around the idea that if people work together as a community in meaningful ways it makes them better.
“There’s a temptation as artists to do it yourself,” Kraus said. “It’s a DIY mentality, and that’s what makes you thrive as an artist. But when you can do it together and find those opportunities to link up and maximize each other’s expertise, that’s where true collaboration happens.”
During this collaboration, Joëlle Diane began working on other collaborative projects throughout Akron. Her solar eclipse design work for Rubber City Clothing caught the attention of the city of Akron. She got hired to create the Akron bicentennial design. Then she worked with Frank Miller of Righteous Cloth streetwear on screen printing projects.
“We’ve worked together with the Sojourner Truth fund in Akron and got to be a part of their unveiling event, and we’ve even since been selling stuff to help raise funds for their organization,” Joëlle Diane said. “It’s just been a lot of really neat projects, and all this stuff has just stemmed from creating this little business out of my dining room.”
